What Are Propaganda Techniques?

Propaganda

What are Propaganda techniques?

•  Propaganda is designed to ______.

•  Its purpose is to influence your opinions, emotions, attitudes, or behavior.

•  It seeks to “______.”

Who uses Propaganda?

•  Military

•  Media

•  Advertisers

•  Politicians

•  You and I

What are some of the techniques used to persuade us?

1. ______- Everybody is doing this. If you want to fit in, you need to “jump on the bandwagon” and do it too. The implication is that you must JOIN in to FIT in.

2. ______-A negative word or feeling is attached to an idea, product, or person. If that word or feeling goes along with that person or idea, the implication is that we shouldn’t be interested in it.

3. ______-A famous person endorses an idea, a product, a candidate. If someone famous uses this product, believes this idea, or supports this candidate, so should we.

4. ______-A commonly admired virtue is used to inspire positive feelings for a person, idea, or product. Words like truth, democracy, beauty, timeless are examples of those general terms.

5. ______-This idea, product, or person is associated with normal, everyday people and activities.

6. ______-Symbols, quotes, or images of famous people are used to convey a message. The message may not necessarily be associated with them.

7. ______-Words that leave us with positive feelings are used to describe a product, person, or idea. We associate those words and, therefore, those positive feelings with the product.

8. ______-Factual supporting details are used though they do not support the conclusion. It works like this:

•  Christians believe in God.

•  Muslims believe in God.

•  Christians are Muslims.

9. ______-Our fears are displayed. Ideas, candidates, or products are shown to put our fears to rest.

***How do we make sure that we are making informed choices, instead of allowing others to sway us in our decision-making? We make our own decisions when:

•  we read and listen to ______

•  we watch for combinations of truths and lies

•  we check for hidden ______

•  we watch for use of propaganda techniques

Propaganda Techniques in Media

Directions: Look through the magazine for different types of advertisements. Find three ads that use three different propaganda techniques and answer the questions below on your own paper.

1.  What company made the ad and what is being advertised?

2.  What is the dominant propaganda technique?

3.  What other techniques are used to further strengthen the message? What else is used to “push” the message?

4.  Who is the target audience?

5.  What does the designer of the piece want me to think or believe?

6.  How valid/accurate is the message?

7.  What questions should I ask myself when evaluating the validity of this message?

8.  Is the ad effective? Why/why not?